Mokshada Ekadashi Vrat Katha · मोक्षदा एकादशी व्रत कथा

Krishna said that the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Margashirsha is called Mokshada, the giver of liberation. Like the wish-fulfilling chintamani gem it fulfils every wish, and through it ancestors who have fallen into hell can reach heaven.

King Vaikhanasa ruled the city of Gokul, where many brahmins learned in the Vedas lived. One night he dreamed that his father had fallen into hell and was begging him: "Son, save me." Deeply troubled, the king told the brahmins of his dream and asked for a way to free his father.

The brahmins told him that the sage Parvata, who knew past, present and future, lived in an ashram nearby. The king went there, fell at the sage's feet and told him everything. After reflecting deeply, the sage told him to keep the fast of the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Margashirsha, called Mokshada, and give its merit to his father.

The king returned home and, when the day came, kept the Mokshada Ekadashi fast with his family and offered its merit to his father. By its power his father was freed. As he rose to heaven, he blessed his son: "May all be well with you, my son."

The katha ends by saying that whoever keeps this fast is freed from sins and attains liberation.

Mokshada Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight (Shukla paksha) of Margashirsha. Its story belongs to the series in which each Ekadashi's glory is told, often as Krishna's answer to the Pandavas. Gita Jayanti, the day the Bhagavad Gita is remembered, is celebrated on this Ekadashi.

The published versions are in Hindi prose and differ in wording and in some names and details. The retelling above keeps only what at least two of the versions linked below agree on. For this year's date, see Mokshada Ekadashi.

The katha is read or heard on Mokshada Ekadashi as part of the worship of Vishnu. Customs vary by family and region.